By Tonnie  Iredia
All over the world, the continued survival of nations is premised on the viability of societal institutions as every such institution strives to meet the purpose for which it was established. For instance, the Post Office which is largely despised in Nigeria serves elsewhere as a tool for national development. In the United Kingdom, unending improvements in technology notwithstanding, service delivery in postal services has over the years remained superb.

Citizens can post whatever and it is delivered safely and with dispatch. Indeed, during an election, those who donot wish to go to voting centres can post their ballots and they will count, To get Nigerian institutions to similarly achieve their objectives has for longer than makes sense been a farce. Interestingly, not many support the wake-up calls which columns like this make to several institutions forgetting that those which perform well like the late Dora Akunyili’s NAFDAC are always applauded. Hence we hailed the Department of State Services (DSS) in its arrest last month of some high ranking Nigerian judges accused of corruption. The sting operation carried out by the DSS has since sensitized us all that the war against corruption is real and that justice for sale in Nigeria can be stopped.

Of course our immediate past Chief Justice and others who were sermonizing on who should discipline judges were on their own.  If a judge joins an armed robbery gang and is caught, do we send his colleagues in the gang to the armed robbery tribunal and send the judge to the National Judicial Council (NJC)? If so, why do people say the rule of law presupposes that everyone is equal before the law? Luckily, in his first few weeks in office, Justice Walter Onnoghen, the acting Chief Justice has given a new lease of life to the Supreme Court.  Onnoghen and his brothers in the apex court have stopped Ondo State from burning thereby disallowing anarchy in Nigeria.

The court did not only refuse to disband the 3-man Special Panel of the Court of Appeal on Ondo, it also dismissed the motions to stay proceedings of the appellate court and ordered  that counsel to the appellants, Chief Beluolisa Nwufor, SAN should pay the cost awarded from his pocket. No one was in doubt that the case which was abuse of process was a prank to create controversy for the Ondo governorship election. Although some analysts expected strong reprimand for the Judge who foisted Modu Sheriff and his faction on society, there is no doubt that faith in the Judiciary would sooner than expected be restored if the present posture of the Supreme Court is maintained. We imagine that Onnoghen who was bold enough to be part of the dissenting judgment in the 2007 convoluted Presidential election can sustain the current tempo.

In this new environment of national resurgence, will the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) be left out? We dare say it is likely if the commission does not dispense with its current image which looks like that of a robot. It is the duty of political parties to nominate candidates for elections. To ensure that all goes well, INEC is empowered to monitor party primaries.  The Sheriff faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claimed to have held one in Ibadan, outside Ondo State to choose a candidate for the Ondo governorship elections.

The process was not monitored by INEC as stipulated, yet a court asked her to accept a candidate that emerged from such a nebulous event and INEC happily obeyed the order.  We think that INEC should have protested the manifestly ridiculous order and indeed should have gone on appeal on such a matter which is likely to adversely affect its fragile image. When the commission was similarly embarrassed in the recent edo election with a contrived voting date, its initial posture of disapproval was instructive.  To obey court order happily is good when it resolves cases between parties; it is certainly not the same as when INEC is asked to give a pass mark to a candidate who did not write its exam.

What about the police- is the new Inspector General willing to take the police away from the old order in which its men openly solicit gratification at election venues?  One question which has been asked severally in this column that must also be answered is why we have 25,000 police operatives in only one state during an election and hoodlums still vanish with ballot boxes?   However, we cannot continue to ask police or other societal institutions to play their roles for society to develop, if the people who desire such developments are not be psychologically and mentally ready for reforms. The week before, the media revealed plans by the Edo State House of Assembly to shortchange the people by deploying the scarce resources of the state to build mansions for the former governor and his deputy. A few days later, two groups were mobilized by the elite to demonstrate for and against the plan. So, there was a group made up of many unemployed citizens who were on rampage to support the shortchange!!

The subject throws up 2 issues. First, civil society groups need to be enlightened about political matters which they often dabble into. Second, the constitutional provisions on how citizens should show disapproval of the roles which their representatives play in the legislature ought to better illuminated. Everyone knows that the nation is in recession and that many workers are not even sure of their salaries. It is therefore obvious that seeking to build mansions for former governor especially at this junction is anti-people.

Legislators who support it cannot continue to represent the people. Section 110 of our constitution can be used to remove such legislators from office. What it requires is not just street demonstration but a petition to INEC signed by 50% of voters in the constituencies that have lost confidence in their legislators.  90 days after, there will be a referendum in such a constituency in which a simple majority of the voters can remove any affected legislator. If this type of action is taken, we shall achieve the change we desire shortly.